Student Diversity (module 4)

1. Student Diver sity
Dr. Jennifer Irwin
EDU 620: Module 4
Chapters 4 &12

2. Before we begin…
 Please take 5 minutes to watch this
video.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hO9V_g

3. The “Uh Oh!” Effect
 What did you think about the speaker’s
description of the “uh oh” effect? Have you ever
experienced it?
 This is Steve Robbins, a nationally known
diversity speaker
 I saw him speak last year on “Unintentional
Intolerance” …. It was very fascinating. Check
out his website for more info: http://www.slrobbins.com/
 Want to see an example of how we can
unintentionally make assumptions? … see the
next slide.

4.  Form a picture in your mind of someone
from each of the following places:
 Holland
 Mexico
 Hawaii

5.  Was the person from Holland
wearing wooden shoes or
standing in front of a windmill?
 Was the person from Mexico
wearing a sombrero?
 Was the person from Hawaii
wearing a hula skirt or flowered
lei?

6.  How is it that we develop these
stereotypes (which are often simplistic
and untrue caricatures)?
 What you do in your classroom will
largely depend on your knowledge of
your students and their uniqueness.

7. Let’s talk about you and
c ulture
Culture is…. shared norms, values,
behaviors, perceptions, language,
dress, rituals, etc.

8. Individuals Belong to Many Different Microcultural Groups
Gender
Region Religion
Social Ability/
Class Disability
Race Ethnicity
Others?
James Banks

9. Pause, practice, & apply
 To which microcultural groups to you
belong?
 What other cultures do you understand
other than your own?
 What are some potential areas of cultural
conflict in the classroom? What would
you do as a teacher?

10. What is SES ….
 Socioeconomic Status
How much income your family earns
+
Your family’s highest level of schooling
=
SES

11. What does the research
say about SES and
education? (refer to chapter 4)

12. Teaching Tips & SES
 Always set high expectations
 Make adjustments to meet the needs of the class
(differentiate)
 Help students work on retention skills, time
management, organization, etc…
 Arrange enrichment/challenge opportunities
 Be thoughtful when grouping/ use cooperative
learning
 Help students get basics met (food, clothing,
shelter)
 Reach out to parents

13. Ethnicity & Race
 Not synonymous
 Ethnicity: a history, culture, and sense of
identity shared by a group of people (e.g.
Irish, Jewish Americans)
 Race: visible genetic characteristics of
individuals that cause them to be seen as
members of the same group (e.g.
Caucasian)

14. Pause, practice, &
apply
 Refer to chapter 4 …
 How do ethnicity and race affect
students’ school experiences and
achievement?
 What is the “achievement gap” and why
does it occur?

15. Teaching Tips &
Cultural Diversity
 Be fair
 Use a variety of instructional materials &
strategies
 Use community resources
 Openly discuss cultural relations
 Use wait time (allow students 3-5 seconds to
form an answer to a question)
 Use cooperative learning
 Do not permit prejudicial remarks (ignoring
such remarks in the classroom is the same
thing as agreeing with them)

16.  Before you go on, form a picture in your
mind of the following individuals:
 Bank President
 Kindergarten Teacher
 Fashion Model
 Scientist
 Building Contractor
 Secretary

17.  Did you think of these?
 Bank President-male
 Kindergarten Teacher-female
 Fashion Model-female
 Scientist-male
 Building Contractor-male
 Secretary-female

18. Gender Stereotypes: Fill
in the following chart with the all stereotypes you can think of.
Males Females
Personality
characteristics
Best school subjects
Occupations

19. Gender Differences
 What are some generalizations made
about males and females?
 Where do those differences or
generalizations come from?
How do those generalizations/differences
affect teaching and learning?

20. Teaching Tips &
Gender Equity
 Avoid stereotypes
 Promote integration
 Treat equally, but respect learning
differences
 Provide strong role models
 Promote equal opportunities
 Make student achievement private
 Avoid segregating activities
 Use “wait time”

21. Language Differences
 Look in chapter 4 to see the different
approaches to teaching English Language
Learners:
 English immersion
 Transitional bilingual education
 Paired bilingual education
 Two-way bilingual education
Which approach do you think is most effective? Why?

22. Time to visit the
Intelligence Theories
 Survey of experts showed varied definitions of
intelligence (Sternberg and Detterman, 1986)
 Charles Spearman identified one general
intelligence in the late 1920s
 J.P. Guilford identified 180 types in the 1940s
 Robert Sternberg (1988) identified three types:
 Analytic, Practical and Synthetic
 Howard Gardner identified nine domains or
multiple intelligences (1997)

23. Multiple Intelligences Theory
 Linguistic/Verbal
 Logical/Mathematical
 Musical
 Visual/Spatial

24. More Multiple Intelligences
 Bodily/Kinesthetic
 Interpersonal
 Intrapersonal
 Naturalist
 Existentialist

25. We do embody all nine
intelligences! (Eakle, 2006)
 Linguistic/Verbal
 Logical/Mathematical
 Musical
 Visual/Spatial
 Bodily/Kinesthetic
 Interpersonal
 Intrapersonal
Some think that there are people who do
indeed embody all 9 intelligences. Do you
agree that someone like Rev. Dr. Martin  Naturalist
Luther King Jr. was one of these people?
 Existentialist

26. Next Steps with the MI
Theory…
 Help students hone all nine
intelligences to promote “well-
roundedness”
 E. Paul Torrance, father of Creativity,
believes we should “fall in love with
something and pursue it with intensity”
 Expose students to multiple
intelligences in the classroom as a way
of differentiating your lessons.

27. Learning Styles
 Numerous learning style theories exist
 Dunn & Dunn is most popular
 A learning style is a way in which each learner
concentrates on, processes, absorbs, and
retains new and difficult information (Dunn and Dunn,
1992; 1993; 1999)
 Believe 21 different variables affecting a
person’s learning style (environmental,
emotional, sociological, physiological, and
cognitive processing preferences)
 Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, & Tactile (VAKT)

28. Visual, Auditory,
Kinesthetic, & Tactile
Visual Auditory
Kinesthetic (learning by doing)
Tactile (hands-on learning)
What are your
preferred learning styles?

29. Learners with
Exceptionalities
Please skim chapter 12 and complete the
Study Guide.

30. Questions? Let me
know … or bring them
to this week’s
discussion board 